Mentalrobics™

You exercise your body to stay physically in shape, so why shouldn't you exercise your brain to stay mentally fit? With these daily exercises you will learn how to flex your mind, improve your creativity and boost your memory. As with any exercise, repetition is necessary for you to see improvement, so pick your favorite exercises from our daily suggestions and repeat them as desired. Try to do some mentalrobics every single day!

People tend to classify a situation quickly, which causes us to think and respond to it in predictable ways. A creative thinker will think about situations from different angles.
Try this exercise to think of these situations from the opposite point of view.

1. You just found a $10 bill on the ground. List five reasons why this is unfortunate.
2. You just had a fight with your best friend. List five positive things about this.
3. Your sink is full of dirty dishes. List five reasons why this is good.
4. Your significant other surprises you with a romantic dinner. List five reasons why this is bad.

A neurotransmitter is a chemical in the brain that helps regulate the electrical signals between neurons. Neurotransmitters exist in little pockets, inside the nerve cells, called vesicles. When an electrical signal triggers the neuron, these vesicles float to the cell membrane and release their neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters then jump across the synapse and bind to receptors on adjacent neurons.

How the adjacent neuron reacts to the neurotransmitters depends on a number of factors. There are many different types of neurotransmitters produce different results. Some cause the adjacent neuron to trigger and others suppress triggering. It is the combined effect of all the neurotransmitters that determines what happens to the signal.

Meditation is a contemplative practice that calms or focuses the mind. Although meditation is commonly associated with Eastern religions, it is practiced in nearly every religion and is frequently used outside of the religion context for personal development and relaxation.

Relaxation Response and Progressive Muscle Relaxation are examples of non-religious meditations used to calm the mind and body. There are many different types of formalized meditations that follow a specific routine. Beginners will probably find these easier to start with because there are rules to follow. Once you become adept at focusing your mind, you can easily create your own routines.

A basic goal of meditation is to reach a mental state where your mind is free of thoughts. Beginners will probably find it difficult to meditate for more than a few minutes without having distracting thoughts entire their minds, but with practice and determination it is possible to silence the mind.

One technique used to help quiet the mind is to turn your attention to a single object, such as your breathing. Breath awareness and breath counting is used in many meditations. Some people find it helpful to have a mantra, which is a sound, word or phrase that you can repeat to yourself. In the Relaxation Response meditation, the word "one" is used as a mantra.

If you want to start meditating to reduce stress or for some other reason, it is advisable to pick one or two routines and stick with them. Set aside 15-20 minutes every day to practice and you will quickly improve.